Flyers trade to get goalie Brian Boucher back from Hurricanes

By ROB PARENT

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Brian Boucher, the much traveled goaltender who first rose to NHL prominence as a Flyers rookie 13 years ago, is back with the organization with which he began.

The Carolina Hurricanes have traded Boucher and defensive prospect Mark Alt to the Flyers in exchange for center Luke Pither. For Boucher, it's his fourth stint with the Flyers organization. One of those was strictly a minor league assignment.

But Boucher was a rookie in 1999-2000 when he was chosen to start down the stretch of that season ahead of veteran John Vanbiesbrouck. Though "The Beezer" wasn't happy about that, he maintained a close and strong relationship with Boucher through the years.

Boucher has also rubbed shoulders with current Flyers backup goalie Michael Leighton, and wasn't so close with him when the two were competing for playing time in 2009-10. The early word is that isn't expected to happen this time behind starter Ilya Bryzgalov. Boucher is thought to be "organizational insurance" and will likely be initially assigned to the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL.

To that end, Boucher was not on the ice Sunday as the Flyers opened their brief training camp in anticipation of the season opener Saturday against the Penguins at Wells Fargo Center. Boucher and his family maintained a residence here and he skated with Flyers regulars during the lockout.

The 36-year-old Boucher has spent most of his 14-year NHL career as a backup. He started eight games last season, losing all but one of them. Alt was drafted by the Hurricanes in 2010. The 21-year-old defenseman had five goals and 17 assists for the Minnesota Golden Gophers last season.

Carolina says Pither will be assigned to the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League. The 23-year-old center has 11 goals and 14 assists in 35 games in the ECHL this season.